Tales of Team Gai
by Convenient Alias
Summary: Some drabbles/oneshots about Team Gai, particularly Tenten. Mostly Nejiten. Very youthful.
1. Chapter 1

Tenten was not going to seal any more weapons into her scrolls today. Nor was she going to train, or even study her jutsu.

Today was a holiday, and Tenten thought she had earned it. So today she would do nothing, particularly not be peacemaker between her two confrontational team mates. Today, they would just have to keep the peace without her.

She used chakra to climb up a tree (it's not training if you only do it once) and lay down luxuriously on a branch with a popsicle she had bought ten minutes ago in Konoha square.

Going to do nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing nothing nothing at all.

And as such, she had just started licking her popsicle when she heard sounds of argument down below.

"Neji, I challenge you to a battle! A battle using no weapons except these popsicles! A themed battle to go with this summer holiday!"

"Lee…" Neji sighed. They too had bought popsicles a few minutes ago (they were on sale). But, "Couldn't we just eat them?"

"Aha! An excellent idea! We will see who can eat them first! A battle of speed, which is, coincidentally, an important part of becoming a truly great ninja!"

"No really, Lee. As in, just eat them. The contest is pointless anyways because fate dictates that no one can ever beat me in eating popsicles. Not when I have the flavor cherry. It has been my favorite flavor for years, and I am confident in my ability OF EATING IT! So back off, novice. The ways of eating cherry popsicles will never be yours because FATE DICTATES OTHERWISE!"

Tenten thoughtfully licked her popsicle. But this wasn't cherry. This was…

"I accept your challenge. On your mark, get set, go!"

But after about ten seconds, Tenten heard a croak. "This…(spit spit) isn't cherry (cough cough). This is strawberry. Yuck!"

"No Neji, you're gagging! I will help you!" Loud sounds of Lee hitting Neji on the back ensued, even more coughing, and eventually, "Are you all right?"

"That was awful."

"Perhaps you need medical care."

"After choking on a popsicle? Don't be stupid. Only you would think of that. Alas, you will always be an idiot…Why am I fated to be this person's team mate…"

"I am not an idiot! I challenge you to a game of Scrabble!"

"Why…Oh I wish Tenten was here. She could help me escape this…"

Tenten was halfway through her popsicle and had stopped listening to the voices. Because today was a holiday. And Tenten was going to do nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing nothing nothing at all.

AN: And so it begins. I wrote a lot of stories about this team for random prompts a while back, mostly about Tenten but some about others. There are, I repeat, a lot of them, so I'll be updating fairly regularly. Please review!


	2. Scrolls and Swimming

Tenten's scrolls were amazingly useful. They could hold hundreds of weapons and took up very little space. They could also hold supplies and practically anything else Tenten chose to seal into them. They had helped the team many times.

And the ink was not water soluble.

Which was why, when five of Tenten's most valuable scrolls fell into the river, she did not give up hope. Instead she turned to Lee.

"Lee-kun! My scrolls have fallen into the river!" she cried, dramatically pointing out the obvious.

"Tenten! That's awful! I will get them for you! WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!" Lee cried back at her. With that he dove into the river. There was a larger splash than Tenten had expected.

"Ah, my youthful student," Gai remarked. "Going for a swim with his weights still on. He is so enthusiastic about his training."

Tenten paled. She had forgotten about the weights. Lee could drown.

"Um, Gai-sensei, maybe you should help him? After all, the weights are pretty heavy."

Just then Lee surfaced. "I have the scrolls, Tenten!" he shouted. "But it is becoming hard to swim!"

"Gai-sensei, help him," she pleaded.

"No," said Gai with a grin. "My youthful student can do well enough by himself."

And it did, indeed, look like Lee was doing all right. Tenten breathed a sigh of relief.

That night, they camped out by the river. It was part of their training regime.

Tenten, safe with the scrolls, was about to go to sleep when Neji came up to her.

They stood by the side of the river together in silence for a few minutes. Then, "You never asked me," Neji said.

"What?" said Tenten.

"You never asked me to help you fetch your scrolls."

"Oh. But Neji, that's more of a Gai-and-Lee sort of thing. It's a bit crazy, you know. Not many people would do it."

"You don't think I would do something crazy for you?" Neji asked heatedly.

"Neji-"

"You don't think I would jump into a river for you? With weights?"

"Neji-"

"Well I would!" he interrupted. "I'll show you I would." And despite her protests, he grabbed a huge rock, stuffed it in his sash, and jumped into the water.

And once again, there was silence. Only a few bubbles came to the surface.

"GAAAI-SENSEEEEIIII!"

Neji had to be fished out of the river. He was lucky he was a ninja and knew how to hold his breath.

This occurrence was never talked about again.


	3. Be a Man

Ever since Lee had met Neji, he had doubted Neji's manliness.

I mean, it's not like it was hard to do.

Men wear their hair short, preferably cut in a bowl cut. Neji wore his hair long and silky. Lee did not care if it was a Hyuga tradition-Hinata's hair was short, which indicated that Neji could easily cut his if he wanted to.

Men were loud and confident. Neji was almost always silent, and he had never had the confidence to challenge Hiashi-sama about being part of the branch family. Nor had he ever had the confidence to ask Tenten out, even though he clearly liked her.

Men made their own decisions. Neji whined about fate. Lee had seen some girls he knew reading astrology columns in the _Konoha Times_ and he couldn't help but compare the two.

And now, Neji had done the least manly and the least youthful thing of all.

He had made Tenten cry.

She had run away, so they hadn't actually seen the crying, but as she left her breath had been shaky, and Lee, peeking through her house's window to check up on her, had seen it all. There was a pile of tissues on the bed next to her, and if she wasn't crying anymore, she looked like it would take very little to get started.

He returned to report to Neji, who was waiting for him in the garden.

"She looks like she's gotten over it, more or less. But not that great."

Neji turned around. "She'll be fine, then."

Lee couldn't believe his eyes. Was Neji about to walk away? From a teammate in distress? How unyouthful! He grabbed Neji's shoulders and threw him to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Neji hissed as Lee sat on his back and pinned his arms to his sides. Honestly, he would be yelling, but he really didn't want Tenten's attention right now.

"What are you doing? You made her cry, Neji! You can't just walk away. That's unyouthful and in your heart, you know it."

"I don't care about youth."

"But you care about Tenten-san! And right now, you're so distracted that you didn't even notice me coming until you were already chewing dirt. You know you can't just let her go this way."

Neji sighed. Didn't Lee understand? "If I go up now, she'll get mad again and hate me."

"Oh, BE A MAN!" Lee was tired of this. "JUST GO TELL HER YOU'RE SORRY AND YOU LOVE HER SO WE ALL CAN GET OVER THIS!"

Neji flinched.

Lee huffed.

Tenten, hearing the yell, was now looking out the window.

Lee turned to her with his trademark smile. "Hey Tenten, there's something Neji wants to tell you."


	4. Match of Genii

"So Shikamaru, you're supposed to be, like, a genius now?" Ino asked lazily. "That's such a lie…"  
"Eh."

"But Neji probably couldn't beat you, anyways, in a battle of wits," she continued, glancing at the white eyed boy who had joined them for ramen.

"Oh, I could."

"Hn, I doubt it," Shikamaru smirked. Neji always seemed to be challenging people these days. He must have caught something from Lee.

"Then, you will accept my challenge?"

How predictable. But it wouldn't be too troublesome…Neji was much better at fighting than thinking.

When Shikamaru nodded his agreement, Neji called Tenten over to the bar where they were eating. (She had been walking by.) "Tenten, you have a knife in that sheath, right?"

"Yeah, I always do. I switch it every day for cleaning."

"Very well. Shikamaru, we will see who can guess what knife is in the sheath without looking at it."

Shikamaru stroked his chin. "Hmm, Tenten prefers a knife with a pointed end rather than a sliced edge, most likely because she enjoys throwing them. Also, it is probably iron, since that sheath is reinforced. In addition to this, I would guess it is fairly small and average since we are unlikely to come upon enemy nin in Konoha."

"Hehe, most astute…but…" He activated Byakugan. "I can see that there is a flock of ducks in the woods about half a mile away. Tenten likes duck and eats it quite often, so she is probably going hunting, particularly since she is wearing her toughest pants and it is far from payday…She must be broke. Therefore, she will be using a smaller knife so that it will be able to hit a smaller target, probably made of aluminum so that it will be light in case the ducks take flight and she needs to throw it high up. In addition, it most likely has a string attached to the end so she can pull the duck in."

"You're being most illogical. Very well then, let's have a look."

The knife was small, aluminum, and had a string tied to the end. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I guess you must know Tenten better than me. How troublesome. I will have to get more data." He strode off with Ino, leaving Neji and Tenten alone.

"Neji?"

"Yes, Tenten?"

"I'm not going duck hunting. I don't even like duck. Pork and chicken and even wild bear meat are better."

"So I got my answer through incorrect reasoning. Ah well, I was right anyways."

"Neji?"

"Yes, Tenten?"

"You just used your Byakugan to look through the sheath, didn't you?"

"…"

AN: Please review. I like reviews.


	5. Rocks Are Not the Same

Tenten learned when she was young: Anything can be a weapon. The type of weapon, however, depends. A chopstick, thrown properly, can become a dagger, but a spoon should be used as a part of a slingshot. A pillow can be used for smothering someone, but a shirt is better used to entangle their bodies. A lamp is better used to set a room on fire than to hit someone on the head. If you use  
a pencil as a dagger, throw it, don't stab with it.

She learned the fine nuances of objects. She pictured herself attacking someone with any given object. When she entered a room with a rug, she noted whether it had tassels (good for pulling it from under people) or if it was flimsy (if it ripped easily she could use it as a bandage or rope or something). When she ate, she commonly indulged in imagining how to knock someone out with every piece of food on the plate. If she used the same technique twice on one plate, she had to start over.

Thus, when it came to the "learn about slingshots" class in ninja academy, she was well prepared. The class was sent out to find some relatively small rocks that would do well in slingshots.

She found about twenty rocks for herself rather quickly and put them in a small sack that she began to carry back to the schoolhouse. On the way she saw a boy with long hair and light eyes bending over near the road. She stopped to look at the rock he was fingering.

"It's not right."

The boy looked up. "What do you mean? It's the exact same size as the one Iruka sensei showed us."

Tenten twitched at his ignorance. "It isn't just the size. It's the shape. That one is too sharp in places."

"Yeah, that means it would really hurt to be hit with it."

"No, that means it would rip the slingshot! Well, probably not the first time, but after a few rocks like this, any flexible slingshot would be pretty worn out. Besides, smoother means less air resistance. Let me see your others."

The boy (Neji) scowled. "I can pick out ROCKS for myself! I don't need your help."

"Well, that's not the way it looks."

"All rocks are the same, idiot. The shape doesn't matter that much."

Tenten stopped twitching and stiffened. "What if I can prove you wrong?"

Neji smirked at the challenge in her eyes. "I dare you to."

Tenten took her handkerchief out of her pocket and tied a knot with two corners. "This is a fairly simple slingshot." Then she took one of Neji's more misshapen rocks. She turned onto the road. "Let's see how far I can send this one."

She heaved it about forty yards. Neji's eyes opened wider. "Pretty good," he admitted.

"Now watch this." She took one of her own rocks and shot it out. It soared until it was out of view.

Neji stared.

"That's a combination of skill and, importantly for those who _don't_ have experience, rock shape." Tenten lifted her sack over one shoulder again. "All rocks are _not _the same. With that mind set, you'll never be a weapons master."

The boy stared at her as she trudged away, and then looked back at his rocks.

Ugh.

A mile away, Tenten picked up her rock. No need to waste a good weapon.


	6. Kings, Queens and Jokers

AN: This one is slightly different. I have been writing these to prompts, and this one inspired, not a short story, but more of a blurb/monologue thing. It's happened once or twice, so more of these will probably appear once in a while. If you don't like them, skip them! Also, please review.

Neji was a king.

Well actually he was more of a Hyuga. But that was close enough. Clans with their exclusive airs, their stares that say keep out. Neji could command attention by walking into a room, and that's something only royalty can do.

Kings are supposed to be powerful. But kings can also be playing cards, manipulated by higher forces. If Neji was a playing card, he would have been the king of diamonds. Diamonds are the hardest minerals in the world, glinting but unyielding. But if you know the correct lines to cut along, you can slice them up the same as anything else.

Tenten could always cut Neji down to size.

She was the sort of girl who would fade out of your vision if you weren't paying attention, but even if you forgot her, she didn't forget you. She kept an eye on you and pretty soon knew all the cards you were carrying, your strengths, your weaknesses, and how to exploit you. She could pull on Neji like she had him on a leash, quietly smiling at his obstinacy and mocking his hard words. He hated her for it, the way she could treat him the exact same as anyone else.

Then one day he realized, she didn't treat him the same as anyone else. She just treated him as an equal: A privilege reserved to few.

And he realized: If he was a king of diamonds, she was the queen of hearts. Which meant he could pretty much lay down arms and surrender right now. Trying not to love her was a lost cause.

As for Lee, his role in the game of shinobi warfare was never really clear. But he was hardly nobility. His enthusiasm for youth, his honesty, his sweat and that ridiculous green jumpsuit all made him somewhat laughable. So many thought he was a joker, and they thought that meant he was a joke.

They forgot. The joker can be substituted for any card in the game. Of all the cards, the joker is the least predictable, and with time it can become the most powerful.


	7. Dying Fire

AN: And this one is kinda romantic. Please review.

After a mission, the two genin were left sitting next to the fire. Gai had run off with Lee to do something that was a combination of training and youthful celebration at the mission's success. Tenten and Neji had begged off on the grounds of being hungry.

Tenten had caught a few fish earlier, speared them with a harpoon that she had stored in one of the scrolls. Now they were roasting it on a stick above the firepit. They seemed to cook very slowly to Tenten.

The silence would have been awkward a few months ago, when they had first met. Back then, Tenten had considered Neji an arrogant jerk, who was silent because he felt himself superior to the point of not honoring the others around him with his words.

Now Tenten knew that it was because he was careful with his words. He felt around them gingerly, and if he wasn't sure what to say or didn't want to force the situation, he was silent. This was most of the time. Gai could usually get him to talk a bit more, but at the same time his wild antics often left Neji glad for a rest.

Tenten was glad for a rest herself. The mission had been tiring enough without Lee and Gai adding chaos afterwards. She sighed and leaned against Neji.

He stiffened.

She glanced up. He was making a very frigid and deliberately controlled face.

"What?"

He coughed. "You, um…This is awkward."

"Why? It's not awkward for me. We're teammates. Getting up close and personal is part of the job description."

"You're a girl." To him, this seemed to clinch the argument.

"So?"

"A girl and a boy leaning against each other is a…sort of a…romantic gesture. It looks like we like each other."

"I don't see anything wrong with that."

Neji's inward struggle was clear on his face. His voice was strained as he spoke. She imagined it wasn't the kind of thing he'd usually talk about. "I mean…like…like."

"Like I said, I don't see anything wrong with that." Tenten was outwardly bland, but inwardly smirking.

"It looks like we're in love!" Neji almost yelled.

Tenten leaned in closer, so that their faces almost touched. "Like I said, Neji-kun," she murmured. "I don't mind."

He froze there, leaving her practically lying in her lap. No answer. The fire continued to burn until the fish were probably overcooked and started to run out of fuel, to sputter, to die out.

A few months ago, Tenten might have thought the silence was awkward. Now, she knew the silence was awkward. But at least it was more awkward for Neji than it was for her.


	8. Fish

Tenten's greatest dream had always been to become a great medic nin, like Tsunade, her role model.

Now, Tsunade was back in Konoha as Hokage and Tenten was no longer as sure she wanted to be like her. Tsunade had a short temper and drank too much, and Tenten had heard rumors that the breaking apart of her old team, the Sannin, had broken her heart as well.

In short, it did not sound very fun to be Tsunade. Still, Tenten would have liked to be a medic nin, for healing people was a wonderful thing.

Which was why she was now seated with a dying fish in her lap, trying to put chakra into it to heal the minor scratch she had made on it with her kunai. Unfortunately, it was a complete failure. The fish didn't seem to want her chakra, her body didn't like releasing her chakra into the fish, and when she did pull some chakra towards the fish, it turned the scratch into a burn. Apparently her chakra wasn't the healing sort.

She flung the fish back into the water impatiently. Vaguely she wondered if it would be able to survive with the scratch that was now a burn. Not that she really cared that much about the stupid fish. More importantly, this just wasn't working.

She sighed and sat down on the grass.

"Tenten-san, is something wrong?"

She turned around to see, not one of her teammates, but Hinata. Well, it wasn't like this training ground, situated near a brook, was used only by her team. But it was still surprising.

"You could say that. Mostly it's just that I can't heal a fish."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh, no! Was it a friend of yours, Tenten-san?"

"Uh, no." Tenten wasn't really sure how a fish could be a friend. Maybe a pet, but a friend was stretching it. "I just was trying to practice healing. It's not working." She sighed again. "At this rate, I'll never be like Tsunade."

"Uh. Tenten-san? Are you sure you want to be like Tsunade?" Hinata looked a bit worried for Tenten's mental health.

Tenten shook her head. "No. Just…"

"You should get a new role model! Like, um, like Naruto! Yeah, you should try to be like Naruto!" Hinata declared.

Tenten had been aware of the other girl's crush, but wow, Hinata really was obsessed. She smiled lightly, to appease her. "I'll consider it."

"Okay then! I should be going, then. Bye, Tenten-san."

The pale eyed girl headed off to find a new training site. Yeah, that one was definitely shy.

Tenten, however, had no intention of becoming like Naruto. He always said he wanted to become Hokage, and she didn't want to become Hokage.

Wait, Tsunade was a Hokage too.

Tenten groaned and decided it didn't really matter. She headed towards the stream to catch some new fish. This time, she was going to cook them. Neji always did have a liking for fried fish, and it appeared she had a talent for killing fish more than healing them.


	9. Impossible

"Neji, I'm bored."

Neji looked up at Tenten with irritation. "Do you think I'm here for your amusement?"

"Yes."

"…No. I am here for training, working on my endurance. You are supposed to be here for the same things, actually. Gai-sensei said so."

"Mm, but I'm bored. And I've already trained a lot. It's not my fault you need to train more than me. And if you're going to train, work on your aim. It's awful."

Neji stiffened. Was it possible? Could it be? Had he just been insulted?

"So if you're not working on your aim, you should just amuse me. Cuz if you aren't practicing the right things, it's just a waste of time anyways."

"Let me repeat myself, little girl. I. Am. Training. I am not here for your amusement and being on the same team doesn't make us friends. And my aim is ten times better than yours, at least. I have the Byakugan; I can see EVERYTHING."

"Wanna bet?"

The arrogant Hyuga was about to retort, when he had a brilliant idea. This was how to finally get some peace and show that girl who was boss. "Yeah, I do want to bet, actually. Let's have a contest. If I win, you have to get out."

"Okay," Tenten agreed. She walked over to some trees.

"We'll set up some targets, and see who can hit them dead center the most times. If I win, you have to amuse me, although this is going to be amusing anyways, I bet. If you win," Tenten allowed herself a superior smile. "Then I will leave you alone. For now, anyways." She casually started carving target shapes in the trees with a kunai.

"You think you can beat a Hyuga at accuracy? I have the Byakugan, in case you forgot. I could hit every one of those targets with my BACK turned. In ten seconds, you are going to be leaving this section of the woods with your tail between your legs."

Tenten merely smiled again. She then turned around so that she had her back to all the targets. "Let's test that theory."

Neji shrugged. The sooner they had the contest, the sooner he could return to training. He turned around and activated the Byakugan. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. He turned around to see seven kunai wedged almost dead center and two only an inch or two off, just as he'd known he would.

Tenten pulled them out and took the same position as he had. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Neji gaped as every kunai hit a few millimeters away from the marks of where his kunai had stuck in it. Of course, the last two were more towards the center though.

"Wha…" He was cut off as she summoned a ruler from one of her scrolls and carefully measured the distance. When she stepped away, she was grinning.

"Mine were closer."

"But you couldn't even see them. Is...Is my Byakugan failing me?"

When he stuttered he sounded just like Hinata, Tenten noticed. So cute! But, "No. your Byakugan is not failing you. This is merely the victory of months and months of training and also GIRL POWER!"

Neji blinked. Tenten sighed.

"Allow me to rephrase that. What I meant is, just 'cuz you can see something doesn't mean you can hit it. And I can hit targets blind. So, I am superior in this case. And your weak spot is definitely accuracy."

"So amuse me," she added.

"I'm not here for your amusement."

"…You're a poor loser, Hyuga."

"Yes I am, so get out before I kill you."

"So cold. This isn't fun. I'm leaving."

As she disappeared, Neji turned back to the targets. His endurance training would just have to be postponed.

ACCURACY TRAINING BEGIN!


	10. Party

Hyugas did not do birthday parties, unless the birthday in question belonged to Hinata, Hanabi, or Hiashi. Neji's father had given Neji small birthday parties, but nothing to get excited about. As far as Neji could tell, one received a few presents to commemorate the day you were born, and usually a solemn talk ensued with your guardian. That was the Hyugas-they celebrated such events with sparse dignity.

Gai seemed to have other ideas.

"So, should we hold the party here on the training ground or should we hike up to the top of the Hokage Monument?" he mused with his chin in his hand.

"Sensei, I don't need a birthday party."

"Top of the Hokage Monument!" Lee declared with vigor. "He will show his renewed commitment to being an excellent ninja by sweating in the honest labor of climbing the monument, and from above we will be able to behold the whole of Konoha!"

Neji shot Lee a Look. It was a very Hyuga Look. "Lee, don't you start too. I don't need a birthday party." And he really didn't need one taking place on top of the Monument, which took hours to get up. He looked to Tenten for sympathy. She was the only sane one on the team, really. Perhaps she would help him out.

"I think we should have it here," Tenten said, in response to Neji's unspoken request. Neji blinked. That was not the point! Certainly that would be better, but…he didn't need a birthday party at all! Wasn't she, at least, listening?

Gai threw her a sad look. "But Tenten, why?"

"Um…it's symbolic. This is the place where we do all our training, so by holding it here, we can remember all the things that have strengthened him and bonded us together as a team."

A good answer, for Gai at least. The man beamed, and exclaimed, "Very well! It will be here, and there will be CAKE! Come, Lee, we have baking to do."

"Yes, sensei!"

The pair bounded off through the trees.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Gai bakes?"

Tenten shrugged. "Who knows? Say, what kind of cake do you like? They're likely to mess that one up, so I can make a better one for afterwards."

"You too, Tenten? I don't need you to make a cake! I don't need any cake! I don't need a birthday party!"

Tenten laughed. "Don't be silly. No one needs any of that stuff. But what do you want?"

Neji looked at her now, really looked. What did he want? Well, to begin with, "Not a huge fanfare with those two." They were fun, and it was fun to watch them fuss over things, but not fun to be the fussed-over thing.

Tenten smirked. "Well, you're getting that either way. Anything else?"

What did he want? For a moment he allowed himself to really consider the question. He wanted to become so strong that people would be forced to see him, not his heritage. He wanted to be able to look at Hinata without feeling that rage that really the young girl didn't deserve. He wanted his forehead to be as white and clean as the rest of his face, unmarred by the straight, binding x. He wanted to be a free man, and he wanted to be able to love Tenten without feeling guilt.

He didn't really have any control over all of that though. Destiny dealt him his hand, and he would play it out. Still, there were small decisions to make, and he supposed they were good.

"The cake should be chocolate," he declared resolutely.

"Of course," said Tenten with a smile.


	11. Sparkle

One night, when Neji was young and feeling particularly depressed about being a member of the Branch family, he ran out of the Hyuga compound and lay under a tree in the forest. The ground was hard and uncomfortable, but Neji didn't want to sleep anyways. He wanted to get away from it all. To just lie down in a place where the trees were free, where the ground was not Hyuga property, where the sky was unchained.

Nevertheless, he found himself getting a little sleepy, just lying there and staring up at the stars, and in a few minutes he was half dozing with his eyes just cracked open.

And then, a glint. A sparkle. Neji saw it dancing out of the corner of his eyes and it pestered him until he sat up and looked around. The gleam was from the knife of a girl practicing jutsu and knife throwing on the ground a few feet away.

She must not have noticed him, lying here in his dark nightclothes. He cleared his throat.

She glanced over. "I thought you were asleep." Her eyes on him were cool, measuring. He wondered why she didn't go back to her practice, and realized that of course, she must be waiting for him to speak. But he wasn't really sure what to say.

Finally, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Tenten."

One word that told him nothing. "No last name?"

"Not all of us rely on our families, Hyuga."

He was startled for a second, but then, she would know his family from his eyes-the byakugan. Or maybe they were in class together? Neji didn't keep track of names generally, and found that he was wishing he did.

In any case, he resented her last words. "I don't need my family. I am my own person."

She looked skeptical. "Are you really?"

He did not answer. Why should he have to argue with this…Tenten here anyways? What did she know about him?

"I don't believe you," she said flatly, and she twirled a kunai on one finger. "Everyone belongs to someone. To the people around them, the people who know them the best."

"Well, I don't belong to the Hyuga main branch."

Tenten smiled. "Then I guess that leaves you untaken."

"I guess."

"Excellent. Then, from now on you're mine. The other girls will be jealous; they all think you're cute, you know." With a satisfied smirk she turned and released the kunai from her finger, leaving it sticking it into a tree.

Neji blinked. "Wait, what?" Tenten was ignoring him, pulling out another knife. "You can't just say I'm yours!" She threw this one too, and it stuck an inch from the first kunai. "There is no reason on Earth why I would belong to you!"

She turned back to him with a worried frown. "You know, you have a point there."

"Of course I do. You're a random girl who I met on a random night throwing random knives into a random tree. You have no relation to me, or at best a very thin connection."

She stepped closer, making almost no noise. Leaves cushioned her feet. She leaned down until her face was about an inch from his. He wanted to shrink away from her, but stared straight up into her eyes, challenging her to dispute his response.

She kissed him on the cheek.

What?

What?

No one had kissed Neji for years. Not since his father had died and left him in a family that did not love or care for him. And even before that, his father was not a girl. And his lips had been firm and usually tired and protective, not soft and mocking and warm.

Tenten stepped away. Her face was hidden by darkness, but he could hear the smugness in her voice. "Now I am the girl who stole your first kiss. It was your first one, right?"

It was.

His silence was answer enough for Tenten. "Then you belong to me now," she said.

He was still trying to get a grip on reality. The trees seemed to merge in the shadows and he'd just been kissed and he was tired and he really didn't have enough energy to deal with this tonight. Tenten might have sensed this, because she patted his shoulder and walked away.

Two knives were left stuck in the tree, sparkling in the moonlight.

AN: So...When I wrote this story (a while ago) I did not plan for it to go quite this direction, but it did. I worry that they might both be a little OOC...


	12. Am I Dreaming?

Tenten knew Neji too well to think foolish thoughts about him. She knew he was hard and dignified. He had feelings beneath all that iciness, but he would never, ever show them. The most he'd do was smirk or raise an eyebrow. Once or twice he'd shouted with annoyance. Anger was the only emotion he really would express.

So she knew, when he approached her that night after training, that it was really only a dream. His face was too soft. His eyes were half closed, and looked at her without scrutiny but with a kind of…affection. Neji didn't do affection.

There were other signs too.

The boy's headband was off, showing the condemning x he always wanted to hide. He would never show such a thing in real life, but covered it, even when the mission required they take off their headbands. And he was coming too close when really he always stayed a few feet away.

He took her hand.

Because it was a dream, she asked him, "Tell me, why are you never like this? Tell me, why are you always hard?"

He blinked at her. Then he said, "You make me afraid."

"Afraid?"

"What if I do something wrong? I could hurt you. I always make girls cry. Whenever I talk to Hinata, I make her cry." His voice was argumentative, as if he felt a need to convince her of his own clumsiness.

"I don't break so easily," Tenten said firmly. It was a good point, and she decided she'd definitely use it in real life.

"That's true," Neji said reflectively.

Neh, this dream was kind of boring. Too much talking. Nothing like her usual dreams about Neji. Time to make it more interesting. She stood on tiptoes and kissed Neji on the cheek. (Even in a dream, she didn't quite dare to do it on the lips.)

He blushed. (Absolutely, without a doubt a dream. Hyugas don't blush. Well, except for Hinata. And she didn't count!)

Tenten didn't remember much more than that when she woke up the next morning, still on the training ground where apparently the whole team had fallen asleep, but vaguely she remembered whispering…things…in Neji's ear just to make him keep on blushing. Because honestly it was cute.

Neji was the second one to wake up. Gai and Lee had worked themselves way too hard and would likely be asleep for a few more hours. When he saw Tenten taking out rations for breakfast, he blushed.

"Tenten," he said shyly.

Okay, this was surreal. Hyugas weren't shy. She would say it was still a dream, but the feel of dew on the grass between her toes told her otherwise.

"What, Neji?"

"Last night, did we…"

"Train so hard even Lee collapsed? Yep. Not that that's a surprise."

"No, I mean…" Neji hesitated. "Did you possibly…Did you k-kiss me?" The last word was a squeak.

Tenten blinked. Well, what do you know? Maybe Hyugas really did blush. (And maybe the trait wasn't limited to Hinata.)

But honestly, there was no way she was going to face up to last night. So, "Don't be silly, Neji, that was just a dream."

"Of course," Neji muttered.

"So you dream about me kissing you?"

Neji stared pointedly at the ground. Tenten wondered if he ever really did dream about such things, and her face curved into a wicked smile.

"Because, you know, I have no problem with making that dream come true." She reached over and pulled his chin up, and kissed him gently on the cheek.

He pulled away, and then suddenly swung back to stare at her pointedly. "That wasn't a dream last night, was it?"

"Of course it was!"

"Then how did you know you kissed me on the cheek, not the lips?"

Caught. The only thing to do was to zigzag the conversation. "Would you rather I kiss you on the lips?"

He kept on staring and suddenly smirked. "No, I would rather it be I who kisses you."

Suddenly he grabbed her chin and kissed her on the lips. His lips were chapped. She knew it was real because if she had to imagine it, she would have imagined them to be perfectly smooth. But this was better than that fake perfection.

And then they broke apart to find Lee staring at them.

Ah, the problems one can encounter in reality…

AN: I'm pretty sure this chapter was me pathetically daydreaming about Nejiten after receiving a prompt conducive to such daydreaming, so if anyone knows how to make it better, I'd really appreciate some reviews. Actually, I'd really appreciate some reviews anyways.


	13. Hair

AN: Many thanks to eternalsmiles, udntned2no and sanriochica for the lovely reviews. Hopefully this will reach them since I can't respond. Made my day, guys!

"Neji," said Gai seriously. "Your hair is far too long."

Neji sighed. He had just arrived at the training grounds, and he wasn't ready to face Lee and Gai together yet. Actually, he was hardly ever ready to face Gai and Lee together, which was very intimidating, but getting some exercise done first usually helped.

"Having long hair is a Hyuuga tradition, sensei," he said as calmly as he could. "Pretty much everyone has long hair in our family, except Hinata. And even she has the long side bangs."

Gai shook his head slowly. "Neji, you must be the one to break the tradition. Youth must replace the old, and new ideas must fell old customs."

"Yes, Neji!" Lee broke in. "And you'll look manlier!"

"So what, exactly, do you people want to do with my hair?" Neji asked, though he already had a good idea. If it was what he thought he was…he fingered a kunai. No, he should probably refrain from killing them, but to lightly injure them was perfectly acceptable. It would be chalked up as a training accident, even by the victims themselves.

Lee and Gai both sighed impatiently. "Well, Neji, you might have guessed this, but we have decided to give you the most youthful cut of all…" Gai murmured dramatically.

"THE BOWL CUT!" Lee shouted enthusiastically.

Neji reacted to the words instinctively, letting his kunai fly at the two. Unfortunately it shot between them harmlessly, and he had nothing left to defend himself from the bowl cut wearing men in green.

He ran for his life.

Tenten arrived a few minutes later to see the three shinobi cutting intricate mazes between the trees. Shaking her head, she pulled Neji to a stop. He was generally the best person to ask for an explanation.

But as soon as he was grabbed, Neji panicked and used the gentle touch technique. Tenten ended up almost paralyzed on the ground before he stopped attacking.

"Eh…Tenten?"

Lee and Gai, who had come up behind him, ceased attempting to cut his hair upon seeing Tenten's condition.

"All right Neji, what's going on?"

Neji gulped. "These two want to cut my hair!" He shouted accusatorily.

"Oh," said Tenten. "That is a problem."

Neji sent her a pleading look. So Tenten decided that just this once, she would step in on his behalf. Although he would owe her.

"Neji can't cut his hair," she said firmly.

"But Tenten-san!" Lee cried out. "We know it is a tradition, but we must break the tradition!"

Tenten shook her head slowly. "Ah, Lee-kun. It is not because it is tradition, but because of a promise Neji made to me…" She could tell she had their attention now. "Neji has promised never to cut his hair until he marries me. It is to make him more motivated in convincing his father to allow me to enter the Hyuuga family. I am sorry if it prevents him from having a youthful haircut, but you know Neji can never break a promise."

"Oh." Gai nodded easily. "I am sorry we pressured you, Neji. If it's something like this, it's perfectly fine." Upon which he and Lee ran off to do more exercises in penance for pressuring Neji.

Neji stared. "Wait…they actually believe that? And they aren't even surprised? Even though you claimed I'm engaged to you?"

Tenten shrugged. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"What…"

A few days later, Neji realized that the side effect of this story was that he was never going to be able to get his haircut until he married Tenten, which could very well be never.

And he had split ends.

AN: I like reviews. A lot. Think I mentioned this earlier.


	14. Flowers

AN: So I know I haven't updated in forever. For this prompt and story, I used this website . This wasn't just for the ones Neji interprets! The other ones have meaning as well, though the marigold just means Naruto.

Um, reviews are nice. I've actually gotten quite a few good ones lately, so...Thanks!

...

Tenten found the flower arrangement classes at the ninja academy interesting but fairly useless. The flowers were, of course, very pretty and putting them into the slim vases provided by the teacher, matching colors for the most beautiful combinations, made her feel very girly. It was also a good chance to socialize with the other girls in the class, even the popular Ino Yamanaka.

Still, how was all of this going to help her in battle?

Tenten tried to imagine herself poking an enemy in the eye with a hibiscus (meaning: gentle) but she didn't like the thought of it. Surely it would destroy the flower, which would be bent or stained with blood. As for medical uses, you nearly always had to cut the flower up, and Tenten didn't really want to do that either…

All in all, it was one class that she enjoyed slacking in. So she did. Instead of listening painstakingly to the sensei, she watched the other students and arranged flowers at random.

Ino Yamanaka. She was combining freesia with jasmine and a black eyed susan. She was talking to her best friend, Sakura Haruno, at the same time, so Tenten got the feeling that she wasn't paying much attention to the flowers.

Sakura Haruno was creating an arrangement with a gladiolus, a lilac, and a pink carnation. Tenten thought it was a rather strange combination.

Hinata Hyuga was off to the side, arranging a yellow chrysanthemum, an iris, and a few sweetpeas. Tenten found it strangely alluring. She saw the girl also shyly reaching for an orange marigold and wondered what Hinata was so hesitant about when it would clearly go so well with her flower arrangement.

As for herself…She sighed. She had no idea what to do with all these flowers. She had merely been fingering a zinnia all this time, and had missed the teacher's instructions. But there were only ten minutes left of class, so she'd better hurry.

She picked a yellow tulip, a red tulip, a lavender and a rhododendron. Flinging them into a case, she presented them to the teacher, who raised an eyebrow but said it was mostly a matter of perspective, and if Tenten liked it, it was okay.

Tenten didn't really like it that much though, so she left it lying on a desk at the academy.

The next day Neji Hyuga found a vase of flowers on his desk. He asked Iruka-sensei what it meant. Iruka said it was probably a gift from a girl, and that he should look up the meanings of the flowers in the arrangement.

Grumbling, he did so.

"Red tulip means declaration of love. So this is a confession? Well, it's not like it's unexpected; I do have fangirls (just not as many as that Uchiha).

"Yellow tulip means hopelessly in love. So it's a very, very emphatic confession. Okay.

"Red rose means passionate love. Haha, this girl really loves me a lot, doesn't she?

"Lavender means…distrust?"

From a secret admirer this seemed rather odd. Neji was starting to have a premonition of danger.

One more flower to go.

"Rhododendron means…" He trailed off. A single word stood out on the page, underneath the scientific name and description.

"BEWARE."

For the next few weeks, Neji walked around completely on guard, certain he was being stalked. Yet apart from the flowers, the stalker never revealed itself. The whole business was very odd.

In the end, it was just another mystery surrounding Neji Hyuga…The Mystery of the Sinister Flowers.


	15. Breakup

AN: So I do these things based on prompts, and the prompt for this one was Breakup. So I ended up writing angsty romance even though this is a humor and friendship fic. Sorry. Next time will be lighter.

* * *

Neji still sometimes felt the ghost of Tenten's lips against his. He still sometimes felt her hands caressing his back the way they used to when he was tense after a mission and she felt the need to make him relax.

He still saw her all the time, of course, and that was not his imagination. They were still on the same team, and even if she hung out with Lee more than him these days, they were still friends.

And no hard feelings.

He didn't hate her for falling in love with that boy from the sand. Certainly he had never expected it, but when he saw the two together, he could not help but notice that they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.

Only that was how Neji used to feel about his own relationship with Tenten. She used to be the one that would balance him out, give the playful side to his seriousness, back him up when he made stupid boasts or ended up in ridiculous arguments against Lee.

One day he talked to her about it, when they were sitting at a campfire alone, feeling nostalgic because this was the way it had begun too.

He told her that she had been perfect for him, he had always felt that way, and he had never wanted her to leave.

"We fit together so beautifully," he whispered. "Tenten, why did we break up?"

She smiled at him, sad and playful at the same time. "Just, it never went two ways, you know. I always loved you so much, but it never really felt like you loved me. I got tired."

"But of course I loved you!"

"I know, I know," she soothed. "It's obvious now that I look back. I guess I knew it even then. But with Kankuro, I don't have to wonder, Neji. He lets me know."

"I showed you I loved you too. Didn't I?" He'd held her and kissed her and sweated in training with her and shielded her in battle. He didn't know what more he could do.

"But you see, Neji, Kankuro doesn't just show me. He tells me." Her smile grew a bit fainter.

"You barely know him."

"I'll know him better in time. And you know, he actually tries to get to know me."

"I tried!" Had he? It didn't take much trying to get to know Tenten. She'd been his teammate first, and he knew his whole team as well, probably better than he knew himself.

"Maybe," Tenten murmured. "Look, I don't love Kankuro because of something you did, okay? It's just…natural."

Neji held back from protesting further, that it wasn't natural, that they were from two whole different villages and Kankuro was a puppet using freak and that Neji and Tenten were on the same team and they had been natural. He knew it would just annoy her, probably not even hurt her except for some offense on Kankuro's behalf.

She didn't care what Neji said anymore.

And he…he didn't care about her. Not really.

He knew he would find someone else, probably someone that the clan would accept more easily than the crazy, playful, tomboyish and yet girly kunoichi that he'd dated for months and who had still refused to tell him her last name. He knew that it wouldn't be long.

But sometimes, he felt the ghost of Tenten's hand on his cheek, wiping away his tears of frustration at a miserable fate, and sometimes, he felt her voice in his ear, whispering that it was all right if everyone else saw him as worthless because she loved him.

And sometimes he cried for reasons that had nothing to do with destiny and everything to do with a girl with brown eyes.

...

AN: Also, I originally meant for this fic to have Gaaten, not Kankuten, but that's a story for another day.


	16. Crackers

Tenten had about ten scrolls worth of supplies on her at any given time. This was useful for battles when she wanted to rain knives and swords on her enemies. It was a bit less useful on rainy days when Team Gai was just trying to find a board game and crackers.

The board game was because Neji and Tenten didn't want to run laps in the rain and had somehow convinced Gai that playing chess or shougi would also be training, just training the mind and strategy instead of the body. The crackers were because Lee was hungry.

Lee was actually hungry a lot. It came with spending the majority of his time running laps, kicking boards or doing pushups. He needed a lot of fuel.

In any case, it all ended with Lee, Neji and Tenten digging through Tenten's piles of sealed supplies while Gai went to drag Kakashi over to play chess with them.

"Tenten! This looks promising!" Lee said cheerfully. He handed her a scroll carefully marked, "Crackers."

"Nope. Wouldn't want to eat those," Tenten muttered as she dug through her own bag of scrolls.

"Why?" Lee asked. "Are they stale?"

"No, Lee, they're actually fireworks and firecrackers. Crackers for short. I don't have a whole seal's worth of crackers, just a few seals' worth of food."

"I've found something," Neji called over. He had already unsealed a box of crackers from a scroll, and was looking very smug. He ripped the box open.

"No Neji! Don't eat those! They're poisoned!"

Neji froze as he reached into the box and growled, "And you couldn't have put that on the label, Tenten?"

"Well, if I'm giving them to an enemy, it's going to look rather suspicious if I unseal a box of crackers from a seal marked, 'poisoned food'. And I trust you guys not to take food from my scrolls, so don't even talk about me poisoning one of you by accident."

Neji quietly made a mental note never to unseal anything from any of Tenten's scrolls without her around again.

Tenten sighed. "Ah, and here are the crackers."

"That scroll is labeled exploding scythes."

"Well, it's a bluff. If the enemy thinks I have exploding scythes, they'll be less likely to attack."

"But why will the enemy be reading the labels on your scrolls in the first place?" Neji yelled in frustration.

"I found the chess!" Lee called out.

"Oh, good, Lee," Tenten said, and she unsealed the game from the scroll he gave her. Luckily it wasn't the set that exploded twenty seconds after being unsealed in case she ever needed to cause an explosion without suspicion. That would have made Neji think she was paranoid, and she couldn't have that.

* * *

AN: And finally, a short story/drabble that is purely friendship. And a little bit of paranoia.


	17. Dancing

Sometimes a mission required something unexpected.

For example, Team Gai's missions usually involved epic battles, ambushes, sealing things in scrolls and unsealing them, Byakugan flashing to discover foes in hiding, and Gai and Lee shouting about the power of youth. Or at the very minimum, people trying to kill them.

Therefore, Lee, Neji and Tenten were all somewhat surprised to discover that their mission this time was purely diplomatic. They didn't even need to bring kunai.

(Of course they brought them anyways but that was beside the point.)

This time, they were simply attending a fancy party as representatives of the Leaf. It didn't even sound like anyone was going to attack the party. It was all shocking.

Tenten didn't even own fancy dresses. Neji owned fancy kimonos and Lee could borrow some fancy clothing from his dad, but that was about it. Gai had a fancy jounin uniform, of course, and he seemed to be entirely prepared, which made Tenten wonder how often he'd been sent on diplomatic missions before he got the team.

And also they were required to dance.

When Gai informed them of this, Neji was the only one who was not worried. "As a Hyuuga, I was taught by a servant," was all he would say when asked. Lee got a concentrated look on his face and started sweating and shouting about how he would learn how to dance as youthfully as any diplomat in the week before the party or do five hundred pushups on his thumbs.

As for Tenten, she sighed.

"I don't know, Gai-sensei. A week's not much time to learn how to dance," she said. "Perhaps I could be a wallflower."

Gai's face became thunderous. "A Konoha ninja is not a wallflower! I, Maito Gai, will teach you how to dance or…"

"I could teach her how to dance," Neji interrupted.

Gai stopped short. "Ah, Neji, I see that your heart is on fire with youthful passion. Very well, far be it from me to stand between you and your goal." With a characteristic wink he strode off to help Lee.

Tente made a face. Then she turned to Neji. "You'll actually teach me how to dance?" Neji was not the best of teachers, since he had little patience for it.

Neji shrugged. "Better me than Gai. He'd probably turn it into an endurance exercise."

"True…" Tenten mused. "But usually you'd just stand back and watch."

"Well, you do usually help me out when Gai does outlandish things to me…even if not in the best ways…" Neji said, remembering the time she had claimed they were betrothed to prevent Gai from giving him a haircut. "So, I figured I owe you something at least."

"Well, thanks," Tenten said brightly. "But just warning you, I have no sense of rhythm."

"All right," Neji said. "Then we'll start with that."

For the next hour or so, Neji beat two sticks together to keep rhythm while making Tenten step back and forth, back and forth.

"I thought," Tenten panted. "That this wasn't going to be an endurance exercise."

"Still not as bad as Gai."

Tenten snorted and flopped down on the grass next to Neji. "I need a break. I still have to do training later, remember?"

"How could I forget," Neji said. "I have to do it too. Well, I think you're slightly more in rhythm now, so how about the actual dancing?"

Tenten grinned. "Oh yes, I was waiting for that part, Neji-sensei. What will we start with?" she pondered.

"Well, first you should probably take a break."

"Don't be riciulous!" Tenten protested. "I just got warmed up." She grabbed Neji under his arms and heaved him to his feet, then put one hand on his shoulder and one hand in his own hand. She smirked. "Isn't that the right position? What dance should I learn first?"

"Um," Neji said. "Maybe I should step back and demonstrate first…"

"No way! I'll learn more by actually doing the dance than by watching."

"Okay, um, first you move your left foot forward."

"Like this?" Tenten asked as she moved her left foot forward…and kicked Neji in the heel.

"No, wait, that's the boy's part," Neji said. "Actually, you move your right foot back…"

Two hours later, Neji was just as tired as Tenten and Tenten still hadn't mastered the first dance.

Tenten shook her head disgustedly. "And here I thought this was going to be romantic."

"What?" said Neji.

"Oh, nothing…"

In the end, the land they were visiting ended up having completely different dances from Konoha, and the only one who could dance was Gai. But it was all right because as unromantic as dancing lessons were, it turned out looking at the stars on a veranda was not nearly as disappointing.


End file.
